In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, Tankha said it was a "one man show unconstitutionally thrust upon 7.5 crore people of Madhya Pradesh", and that it has "gravely impacted and imperiled the war against the coronavirus."

The Union government must consider the imposition of the President’s rule in Madhya Pradesh if Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is unable to form his Cabinet, on the grounds of breakdown of constitutional machinery, Supreme Court lawyer and parliamentarian Vivek Tankha said on Saturday.

Ever since he took oath on March 23, Chouhan is the only minister in his Cabinet.

In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, Tankha said it was a “one man show unconstitutionally thrust upon 7.5 crore people of Madhya Pradesh”, and that it has “gravely impacted and imperiled the war against the coronavirus.”

“A one-man government without a Cabinet is an unthinkable constitutional anathema,” he, said referring to the situation in Indore, which has recorded several deaths at a rate which is nearly three times the national average. Bhopal has suffered an administrative collapse with more than 45 health department officials testing positive.

“MP does not have an accountable Cabinet, much less a health minister,” the Rajya Sabha member said. He also accused the governor of maintaining an “enigmatic silence despite this constitutional outrage.”

The state deserves to be governed by a Cabinet and can’t be deprived of this constitutional privilege in this extreme crisis. Alternatively, if the chief minister is unable to form his cabinet “because of issues beyond his control” then a case of breakdown of constitutional machinery is self evident, the Congress leader said in the letter.